A few moments with Gibson’s Henry Januszkiewicz
When I sat with Henry Januszkiewicz for his short interview, Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys made their appearance at Gibson Guitar booth on January 27. But there is no better time for a busy CEO and I felt lucky to steal a few minutes of his time. Wilson started his concert with an acoustic version of Surfer Girl in the background when Henry and I talked a little about his heritage that has a strong connection with my homeland country – Poland. In the process of describing where his parents’ families came from, he showed that he has a strong knowledge about Polish history in last century. The country was not always in the same geographical area and there were the moments that cities were under different governance. He knows much about his heritage even though he grew up in Rochester, NY.
Gibson CEO Henry Januszkiewicz at NAMM 2013
He admitted that he started with music at the very early in age of 10 and he was inspired by The Beatles. As he recalled he formed a band. The memories brought the smile on his face – “We were pretty bad but we played a lot. I had a band virtually everywhere I went”. He definitely has been driven by passion for music over all those years. “I love music. But I never thought I would make a living on that. Music was always fun for me”.
The Surfer Girl just ended and Wilson was rocking the crowd with Good Vibrations.
“I got an engineering degree and worked for General Motors”. He gained experience in a variety of different jobs at Delco’s 6,000 employee electronic components plant in Rochester. With his superior academic skills, he completed his MBA studies at Harvard University on a GM Fellowship.
“I got really excited about small business and entrepreneurship activities as opposed to big corporations. I went to work as an investment banker in the area of mergers and acquisitions in New York to learn how to buy companies. And I did learn” recalled Januszkiewicz. Most of the companies he invested in were not doing well. He turned them around and made them successful. His last position was executive vice president of Neiderhoffer, Cross and Zeckhauser Inc., a pioneer in the middle market deals. He left the firm in 1981.
In 1986, he bought the Gibson firm that was on the brink of closing. With his accomplished management style he drove the company to become one with worldwide respect and annual average growth of 20 percent over the last decade. Over the years Gibson Guitar brand made many acquisitions including Epiphone, Dobro, Maestro, Kramer, Steinberger, Tobias, Echplex, Electar, Flatiron, Slingerland, Valley Arts, Oberheim, Sunshine Piano, Take Away Technology, Baldwin, J&C Fischer, Chickering, Hamilton, Wurlitzer and most recently Onkyo
Q: Are acquisitions and IPOs integrated or separate business lines?
A: Most definitely we integrated them all. Gibson has certain vibes or attitude, and dedication to excellence. Several brands still required a lot of work. Really our goal is to be 50 percent of the music and audio market place worldwide. Gibson has been a high growth company since 1986, with an annual growth rate is 20%. We continue to grow at that pace.
Q: Are you seeing any major changes in acquisition strategy or growth strategy with all this consumer music coming in versus professional instruments?
A. No. We got much a broader consumer base market as oppose to sort of semi-pro music making.
Q: Do you still play?
A: I play all the time. I have a home studio and usually just record in it. I still see the band but I generally do not perform. Not enough time.
Q: Is it still fun after 30 years?
A: Oh yes, it is great. I love music, I love the musicians, I love the industry and I think Gibson would make big difference in term the way people can enjoy something that is so fun to make. Music is one of those things.
Thank you for the interview. and the wonderful music Gibson makes possible.
